Serial data printer and paper supply therefor



July 16, 1968 Q, RASMUSSEN ET AL 3,392,814

SERIAL DATA PRINTER AND PAPER SUPPLY THEREFOR Original Filed March '7,1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 QR Rm ER (Q RY INVENTORS DONALD 0. RASMUSSEN JOHND. GEARHEART Z/ i ATTORNE y 16, 1963 D. o. RASMUSSEN ETAL 3,392,814

SERIAL DATA PRINTER AND PAPER SUPPLY THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS. DONALD 0. RASMUSSEN JOHN D. GEARHEART Mm/w Original FiledMarch 7, 1966 ATTORNEK.

United States PatentOffice Patented July 16, 1968 3,392,814 7 SERIALDATA PRINTER AND PAPER SUPPLY THEREFOR Donald 0. Rasmussen, Arcadia, andJohn D. Gearheart, Covina, Calif., assignors to Clary Corporation, SanGabriel, Calif., a corporation of California Continuation of applicationSer. No. 532,469, Mar. 7, 1966. This application May 2, 1967, Ser.No..635,625 3 Claims. (Cl. 19749) ABSTRACT OF THE -DISCLO SURE -Aprinter for printing on a strip of record material and comprising arotatable type wheel, means for supporting a supply roll of recordmaterial directly adjacent the type wheel and with its axis at an acuteangle to the axis of the type wheel, and means for guiding the striplaterally from the'outer periphery of the supply roll to the type wheel.

. This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 532,469 filed Mar. 7,1966 now abandoned.

This invention relates to serial printers for printing data on a stripof paper or the like and has particular reference to a high speedminiature or compact printer capable of being mounted in a relativelysmall space such as an opening in aninstrument panel of an airplane,tank, truck or the like. Such openings are generally on the order of 3/2 inches in diameter, requiring relatively small parts in order to fitwithin the required dimensions. On the other hand, such printers aregenerally subjected to rather rough handling, such as is found inmilitary service, and must be capable of printing reliably while beingsubjected to high shock and vibration forces. Additional- 1y, it ishighly desirable that the supply of paper strip be easily and quicklyreplaced so as to avoid disrupting printing of amessage when the supplyof paper strip becomes exhausted,

It thereforebecomes a principal object of the present invention toprovide a highly reliable, high speed, miniature printer.

Another object. is to provide a printer of the above type which isextremely compact and unaffected by vibration and shock.

. Another object is to provide a printer of the above type in which asupply roll of paper or other record material may be readily and quicklyreplaced at the front of the printer and without removing the printerfrom its mountmg. I H

v Another object is to provide a printer which has a minimum ofoperating partsand is inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.

The manner in which the above and other objects of the invention areaccomplished will be readilyunderstood onjreference to the followingspecification when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a serial printer embodying a preferredform of the present invention and showing the same mounted in an openingin an instrument panel.

FIG. 2 isa sectional elevation view, partly broken away, of the printer.

FIG. 3 is a sectional plan view taken substantially along the line 33 ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating part of the tap feed mechanismand is taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 5.

FIG. S is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along the line55 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the printer is shown as being mounted .in anopening 11 of an instrument panel 12, such as may be found in anairplane, truck, tank, etc. The printer comprises a forward body part 13havin a surrounding flange 14 which is removably secured to the panel 12by screws '15. A soft gasket 20 is interposed between the flange 1 4 andthe panel.

A series of bosse s, one of which is shown at 16, are formed integralwith the body part 13 and extend rear ward' therefromto support bars 17which have mounted therebetween various electrical equipment (not shown)for controlling printing, tape feeding, etc. I

A housing shell 18 surrounds the equipment to the rear of the panel 12and is held by suitable means (not shown) against the gasket 20 to sealthe interior of the printer against the entrance of dirt, dust or thelike. v

A continuously rotating type wheel 21 is provided having a series ofregularly spaced type characters 22 formed around the periphery thereof.The type wheel is'mounted on a hub 23 fastened on the shaft 24 of aconstant speed electric motor 25. The latter is secured to the body part13 by screws 26.

The type wheel 21 is adjustable through a limited angle relative to thehub member, and for this purpose it is clamped to the hub member byscrews 27 which pass through a clamp disc 28 and through arcuate slots30 in the type wheel.

Means are provided to transfer an imprint of a selected type character22 onto a narrow paper tape 31 which is suitably treated to render animprint of a type character thereon visible. For this purpose, a hammer32 of ferrous metal having a striking head 33 is pivoted on a pivot rod34 supported by brackets 35 formed integral with the body part 13. Thehammer is normally held out of contact with the tape 31 by gravity andby a permanent magnet 36 mounted on a bracket 37 forming part of thebody part 13.

The hammer 32 is actuated to impact the tape against a selected typecharacter 22 by means of a solenoid generally indicated at 38. Thesolenoid comprises a tubular support 40 suitably attached to the bracket37 and which slideably supports a solenoid armature 41 having a shank 42engageable with the rear end of the hammer 32.

Upon energization of a solenoid coil 43, the armature 41 is impelled tothe left, FIG. 2, forcing the hammer clockwise to strike the tape andthus transfer an imprint from the particular type character aligned withthe hammer at that moment onto the tape.

For the purpose of accurately timing the impacting of the hammer with aselected type character, a timing disc 44 of ferrous metal is suitablysecured to the hub 23 and has a plurality of regularly spaced slots 144therearound which, when the type wheel is rotated, move past aninduction type pulse generating head 45. As each tab formed by twoadjacent slots 144 moves past the head 45, it generates a timing orclock pulse which is transferred by conductor 46 to suitable electricalequipment (not shown), within the housing 18 to properly time theoperation of the hammer. A second disc 47 is mounted on the hub 23 andhas a single tab 48 effective to generate a pulse in a second inductiontype pulse generating head 50 for appropriately controlling theelectrical equipment. The latter disc is adjustable relative to disc 44and for this purpose it is clamped to such disc by screws 51 which passthrough arcuate slots 52 in disc 44.

In accordance with the present invention, the paper tape 31 is suppliedfrom a supply roll 54 mounted on a spool 53 which is removably fittedover a hub 55 rotatably mounted on a stud 56 secured to a cap member 57.The latter has an enclosing flange 58 removably fitted within a matingflange 60 integral with the body part 13. A spring detent 61 attached tothe flange 60 engages a detenting notch 62 in the flange58ato normallyhold the cap member in place.

It will be noted that the axis of the spool 53 is sub stantiallycoincident with the axis of the shaft 24 but is inclined thereto at anangle of 7 degrees. The tape 31, as it unwinds from the supply roll, isguided over three guide rollers 64, 65 and 66. After leaving roller 66,the tape passes between the type vwheel 21 and the'hammer head 33 and isfed throughan opening 68inthe flange 58 by a feed roller,70. g Y

It will be noted that the axes of the rollers 64, 65 and 66 extendparallel to the axis of shaft'24;when viewed in plan (see FIG. 3), butthe. axes of,rollers 64 and 65 extend at an angle of 3 /z degrees to-theaxis of shaft i 24 when viewed in elevation, (asseeninFIG. 2).Accordingly, the tape 31 is guided rearwardly from the supply roll 54until it is in line with the type wheel and extends at right anglestothe axis of shaft 24 while passing under the rollers 66 and 70 andthe: typewheel. Itwill also be noted that the tape does nottwist as itpasses through its guided path.

The tape feed roller 70 (FIGS. 4 and 5) is incrementally rotated bysuitable mechanism (not shown) as an incident to each printing operationand cooperates with a pressure roller 71 carried by a lever 72 pivotallysupported at 73 on the body part 13. The lever is urged clockwise by atorsion spring 80 to normally hold the tape in frictional engagementwith the feed roller 70. A tab 74 is formed on the lever 72 and extendsinto an opening 75 formed coextensively in the flanges 58 and 60,permitting the pressure roller to be released by an operator when thecap member is being installed or removed.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the paper supply roll 54 may bequickly and easily replaced without having to remove the printer fromits mounting and may be threaded in place between the type wheel 21 andits hammer 32 and between the feed roller 70 and pressure roller 71 witha minimum of difficulty and by unskilled operators. Also, it will benoted that the printer occupies a minimum of space and that the papersupply and guide means is located in front of the body part 13, leavingthe rear of the printer mainly for location of electrical controlequipment or the like.

Although the invention has been described in detail and certain specificterms and languages have been used, it is to be understood that thepresent disclosure is illustrative rather than restrictive and thatchanges and modifications may be made without departing from the spiritor scope of the invention as set forth in the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described the invention, What is desired to be secured byUnited States Letters Patent is:

1. A serial printer for printing on a strip of record materialcomprising a structure adapted to fit within an opening in a panel orthe like,

said structure having an outwardly extending flange adjacent the frontend of said structure for attachment to said panel,

drive means on said structure including a rotatable drive shaft havingits axis extending at right angles to said flange centrally of saidstructure, a type wheel on said shaft,

said type wheel being located in front of said flange,

said type w-heel having a plurality of type characters around theperiphery thereof,

a printing hammer carried by said structure and co- 4,. operable withsaid type 'wheelfor transferring an impression of a said type characteronto said strip,

means for supporting a supply roll of said strip in front of andadjacent said type wheel with the axis of said roll having atleast onepoint in common with' the axisof said typewheel,the angle between theaxis of said roll and the axis of said type wheel "being between zerodegrees and forty-five degrees, means for guiding said strip fromtheouter periphery of said su pply roll and between said type wheel andsaidviprinting device, and I a mounting member removably nounted on saidstructure at the front of said flange,

said mounting member supporting said supporting means. I i I i 2. Aserial printer according to claim 1' comprising means on said flange andsaid mounting member forming an enclosure forsaid type wheeland saidsupply roll, a

for advancingsaid strip, A l I rneans in said housing -for rotating saidfeed roll, I

a spring urged pressure roll in said enclosure for maintaining saidstrip in frictional engagement with said feed roll, and 1 manuallyoperable means accessible from the exterior of said enclosure for movingsaid pressure roll away from said feed roll. l r

3.'A serial printer for printing on a'strip of record feed roll in saidenclosure and carried by said structure material comprising an elongatehousing,

drive means in said housing including a drive shaft having its axisextending lengthwise and centrally of I said housing;

i a type wheel mounted on'said shaft adjacent the front of said housing;

said type wheel having a plurality of type characters around theperiphery thereof,

a printing hammer cooperable with said type wheel for transferring animpression of a said type charac' ter onto said record material,

means for supporting a roll of said record material in front of andadjacent said type wheel with the axis of said'roll extending at anacute angle to the axis of said type wheel, and p means for guiding saidrecord material laterally from the outer periphery of said supply rolland between said type wheel and said printing hammer, and

a mounting member removably mounted at the front of said housing, saidmounting member supporting said supporting means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 710,089 9/1902 Williams 1971 X1,567,599 12/ 1925 Kleinschmidt 17842 X 2,017,854 10/1935 Eitzen 17842 X2,134,998 11/1938 Cavalcante 17842 X 2,226,555 12/1940 Eitzen 17842 X3,128,695 4/ 1964 Christoif 10193 3,212,617 10/1965 Sugiyama 197-1333,294,212 12/1966 Gearheart et al 197-133 V FOREIGN PATENTS 127,9026/1948 Australia. 920,190 11/1954 Germany.

ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

E. S. BURR, Assistant Examiner.

